Jane Eyre ~ Charlotte Brontë

For my first book of the year, I had to read Jane Eyre. I’d been putting it off for months and basically ran out of time to read it before I’ve got to study it and so, it had to be my first book of the year. 

Jane Eyre tells the tale of the titular character from her childhood as an unwanted ward of her aunt to the tough boarding school before becoming a governess for Mr Rochester. Jane falls in love with her employer, and he, her. They agree to be married, unfortunately, Mr Rochester is already married and has been hiding his mad wife in the third story of his house.

Jane Eyre is pretty much everything I wouldn’t choose to read. I’m not a huge fan of romance books, classic novels tend to intimidate me, especially those as wordy as Charlotte Brontë’s. Whilst I didn’t have to force myself to finish Jane Eyre as I did with similar books (like Wuthering Heights), it did drag. 

I read Jane Eyre every day for the week it took me to finish it and it did feel like I was putting in the hours and getting nowhere. I also found myself not caring about the characters and the events in their lives. I found myself wondering about the characters that we didn’t see much of, such as the hidden Mrs Rochester and if she was as crazy as she was painted and if not, what was she thinking of everything.

In all honesty, I’m glad I’ve read Jane Eyre because now it’s over with and I will not have to wonder about the what-ifs that surround a lot of the classics I haven’t read. 

I gave Jane Eyre two stars and am very much looking forward to putting it away on a shelf never to be read again. 

C🌙